News
Kamil Akhuseyinoglu and Peter Brusilovsky Win Best Paper at Conference
SCI PhD student Kamil Akhuseyinoglu and Professor Peter Brusilovsky recently won the Best Paper Award at the Association for Computer Machinery (ACM)'s 29th Conference on User Modeling, Adaptation and Personalization (UMAP). Their paper, titled "Data-Driven Modeling of Learners' Individual Differences for Predicting Engagement and Success in Online Learning," proposes a new model for exploring how individual differences relate to student performance.
Xiaowei Jia Leads Study on Machine Learning Methods That Could Improve Environmental Predictions
Machine learning algorithms do a lot for us every day—send unwanted email to our spam folder, warn us if our car is about to back into something, and give us recommendations on what TV show to watch next. Now, we are increasingly using these same algorithms to make environmental predictions for us.
Jacob Biehl and Rosta Farzan Get Award to Create a Digital Ambassadors Program
SCI faculty Dr. Jacob Biehl (ICDS) and Dr. Rosta Farzan (DINS) have been awarded a grant by the R.K. Mellon Foundation to develop, implement, and evaluate a digital ambassador program for youth in the Hill District neighborhood. The project aims to empower youth to lead their communities’ access to and embrace of technology and to gain 21st century, transferable skills leading to employment and STEM diversity.
SCI Faculty Members Join the Pitt Disinformation Lab
SCI faculty members Malihe Alikhani, Dmitriy Babichenko, Adriana Kovashka, Prashant Krishnamurthy, and Yu-Ru Lin have joined the Pitt Disinformation Lab (PDL), which was recently launched by the Institute for Cyber Law, Policy, and Security. The PDL aims to develop counter-measures against disinformation by creating a new, community-centered system of malign influence warning, understanding, and response.
Pitt Students Mentor High School Girls for Local App Development Challenge
Ariana Sutanto’s high school didn’t offer extensive opportunities for students to get involved in computer science, especially those part of minorities traditionally underrepresented in the field. When she heard of an opportunity to mentor local high school girls developing an app, she knew she had to participate.
“This is something that I personally wish I had gotten to do in high school,” the sophomore computer science major says. “There was no focus on increasing diversity within computer science, so I thought this challenge was really unique and I wanted to be a part of it.”
Rob A. Rutenbar Earns Distinguished Professor Honor
Rob A. Rutenbar, senior vice chancellor for research at the University of Pittsburgh, has been appointed to the rank of Distinguished Professor in the School of Computing and Information, and Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering in the Swanson School of Engineering.
Eleanor Mattern Interviewed about Year of Data and Society in Pittwire
This past academic year, the Year of Engagement taught us the value of staying connected during difficult times and the importance of collaboration. As that campaign culminates, the University of Pittsburgh Office of the Provost has announced that the 2021-22 academic year will be the Year of Data and Society.
SCI to Open Space at 130 N. Bellefield by Fall 2022
The School of Computing and Information community can soon expect a new space that reflects the school’s vision and tremendous growth over the past three years. As SCI expands to the fifth floor of 130 N. Bellefield, right across the street from the Information Sciences Building, students, faculty, and staff will continue to collaborate through research and education to solve the most pressing societal problems in the post-pandemic world.
SCI Announces Teaching and Mentoring Small Grants Program
In an effort to enhance curriculum and student experience across the School of Computing and Information’s academic departments, SCI excitedly announces the first group of awards from the School’s Teaching and Mentoring Small Grants Program. Throughout the upcoming year, teams from across the School will collaborate specifically within the context of ethics, equity and diversity, and mentoring with the support of the program.
SCI Faculty Members Join the Collaboratory Against Hate
Several SCI faculty members are participating in the Collaboratory Against Hate, a new initiative which seeks to develop effective interventions to inhibit every stage in the creation and growth of extremist hate groups and to minimize their destructive consequences. The center was launched by the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University and will bring together the collective expertise from all relevant disciplines to better understand and combat hatred based on race, ethnicity, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation and other prejudices.
Introducing the Applied Data-Driven Methods Graduate Certificate Program
May 13, 2021
As data generation increases exponentially in all facets of life — from health care to social media — the workforce faces a shortage of data professionals who can leverage that data to make decisions and predict outcomes. Mirroring this demand, Indeed ranked data scientists as the eighth best job on its 2020 list, citing a 77.57% growth in the number of job postings from 2016-19.
SCI Alumna Sherry Sahebi Receives NSF CAREER Award
SCI alumna Sherry Sahebi recently received a CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for her project "Time-Aware Multi-Objective Recommendation in Online Learning Environments." This research project will focus on recommender systems for online education and how to optimize them to suit students' long-term learning goals. These systems often recommend one type of learning activity, ignore the importance of studying time intervals, and satisfy one learning goal.
Eleanor Mattern to Chair Pitt's Year of Data and Society
The University of Pittsburgh has recently announced that academic year 2021-22 will be the Year of Data and Society and that SCI Teaching Assistant Professor Eleanor "Nora" Mattern will chair this initiative.
Marcia Rapchak Receives Beta Phi Mu Award from the American Library Association
SCI Teaching Assistant Professor Marcia Rapchak was recently selected as the 2021 recipient of the American Library Association's Beta Phi Mu Award, which is given annually to a library school faculty member or another individual for distinguished service to education for librarianship. The award consists of $1,000 and a citation of achievement. Rapchak's work in library science education includes a redesign of a 1-credit course taught at the Gumberg Library of Duquesne University and contributions to the redesign of the Masters of Library and Information Science program at SCI.